


Return From Grief

by Areeta9



Series: Violet: Master of Chaldea [15]
Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Male-Female Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Original Character(s), Servants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 18:54:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25900159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areeta9/pseuds/Areeta9
Summary: David hasn't left his bedroom since the day of Romani's funeral. Violet visits the grieving father daily in hopes that one day his pain would be eased.
Series: Violet: Master of Chaldea [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589119
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Return From Grief

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place around Christmastime, shortly after Attila the Santa's arrival and before Ereshkigal's. After the completion of the Agartha Singularity.

_ ‘KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!’ _

“David! I’m coming in!”

The door slid open before Violet. The light in the hallway silhouetted her as she gazed into the dark room. Despite the darkness, Violet was certain the heroic spirit she was looking for was there. When her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she found it to be true.

Sitting on the floor, hunched against the leg of his bed was the King of Israel.

Violet put her hand on the lightswitch. “David, I’m turning on the light this time.”

There was no response.

Violet turned on the lights before turning back to her friend.

“Baaaahhhh”

“I got another sheep for you today,” Violet said, clumsily ushering the golden sheep toward the catatonic servant. “You should really meet Attilla. She has a whole flock of these sheep. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having help with them. I think you’d like her a lot.”

Violet looked at David. His eyes stayed on the opposite wall.

“She’s really pretty,” Violet tried.

David stayed silent. Her attempt to entice him failed.

Violet’s expression saddened as she watched the sheep sniff him curiously before wandering around the room when he didn’t respond.

“Baahhh”

Violet moved towards the sheep as it sniffed the plate of food on the ground. She had brought it to David yesterday, just as she had done almost every day for the past few months. The days when she didn’t, like when she was on a mission, she made sure another servant did it. However, just like the many days before, the food was untouched. 

Violet took some of the greens from the plate and let the sheep eat from her hand.

“David, do you want to feed the sheep?” she asked hopefully.

There was no answer.

Violet fed the sheep the rest of the greens and took up the plate. She placed the leftovers on the bedside table and took a seat on the unmade bed. 

David had been like this since the day after Romani’s funeral

What could Violet say? She didn’t know what it was like to lose a son.

Solomon, Dr. Romani Archaman, had died, to enable them to defeat Goetia, Romani had sacrificed himself in Solomon’s temple.

Violet fiddled with the sheets. Who had known that Romani was Solomon? None of the staff members, his coworkers, had known. Most of the heroic spirits didn’t have a clue. Perhaps if Sherlock had arrived sooner he would have figured it out, but he didn’t. Da Vinci may have known. The two were very close. 

Had David known? Had he known that his son was right before him.

Violet thought back.

………………..

_ “Ooo….That Caster of the Nightless City sure is beautiful…” _

_ Violet entered the medical bay, clutching her hand.  _

_ “Didn’t Violet tell you and some others to leave her alone?” came the reply. _

_ Violet walked further into the infirmary past the front desk. Beyond it, Dr. Romani sat at one of the desks, David over his shoulder looking at something on his desk. _

_ “What a waste! Such a beautiful Abishag and we can’t even flirt with her?!” David complained. _

_ “Ms. Nightless City has a lot of issues,” Violet said, standing behind the two men. _

_ “WHA!” Both men jumped, in a quite similar way in fact. _

_ “Kings just happen to be one of them,” she continued, unperturbed. “It’s better that you guys don’t bother her too much.” _

_ “Dang it, Violet! You scared the crap out of us. Has Kotarou been teaching you how to sneak around again?!” Romani asked. _

_ “Well, yes, but I didn’t do it consciously.” _

_ “Anyway, why are you here?” David asked. _

_ Violet lifted her hand for them to see. “I cut my hand and was nearby.” _

_ Romani pulled out a box of bandaids and a packet of antiseptic wipes from a cabinet and handed it to her. _

_ Violet began tending to her hand. “So, what are you guys looking at?” she asked, looking at the papers on the desk. On top of the various documents were multiple pictures of the female servants.  _

_ Violet looked at Romani, eyebrow raised. _

_ Romani glanced at the photos before he whipped back around to his young subordinate. “It’s not what you think! Georgios left some of his latest pictures for us to see!” He moved the pictures around, revealing pictures of scenery, fantasmals, and male servants. “See! They’re not all of the girls!” _

_ David cut in. “Come on Violet! Don’t be such a wet-” _

_ Violet raised her hand to get him to stop, before focusing back on bandaging her hand. “As long as you guys aren’t being creepy about it. I already have enough problems dealing with Blackbeard.” _

_ Violet finished bandaging her hand and returned the box to Romani. “Anyway, thanks for the bandaid! Have fun with your male-bonding or whatever,” she said as she walked out. _

………………..

Violet thought back to that memory. By all means it should have been insignificant, easily forgotten, yet here she was remembering it. That hadn’t been the first time she had seen Romani and David hanging out together, nor had it been the last. They had gotten along very well, David could be found with Romani every other day. She thought they were just friends, but now that she knew Romani was Solomon, she wondered if he had just wanted to spend time with his dad...and maybe David wanted to spend time with his son….

But Violet couldn’t ask either of them that now.

They were lucky David was even letting them into the room. The first few weeks of his isolation, he had kept his door locked. Multiple of the friends he had made in Chaldea had tried to see him, but he refused to let them in. It wasn’t until Violet used a command seal to force him to open the door that anyone was able to see him.

Many have tried to console him, others have tried to entice him with fun or his favorite food, still others have tried to straight up drag him out (only for him to go into spirit form to avoid them) yet nobody could assuage the man’s despair. Thus, all they could do was pray and wait. 

She looked at the command seals on her hand. She wondered if she could use her command seals to help him. Perhaps to remove the despair from his heart?.....Maybe make him forget?

Violet violently shook her head. No. That wouldn’t be right. Violet had never used her command seals to manipulate her servants’ emotions and she wasn’t going to start now.

Violet folded her hands together and began to pray for her friend once more. Her lips moved in silent prayer as she begged God, the God that both she and David followed to aid him through his grief.

She finished her prayer and looked at David, whose eyes were still on the opposite wall.

As she looked at him, her expression became thoughtful. She leaned over and touched his green hair. It was matted and greasy. Violet wiped her hand on her skirt as she finally noticed his smell. She wrinkled his nose. He must’ve not dematerialized in days!

Violet got up and moved around the bed towards David. This was no good! No good at all!

She yanked him off the ground by his armpits and pulled him onto the bed, yet still he remained unresponsive.

She pulled off his cape, headband, and scarf before reaching for the hem of his shirt. She pulled it over his head and tossed it on the bed. She had her hand on the waistband of his pants when she finally realized what she was doing.

She blushed and looked around the room. The sheep was watching her impassively. She glanced at the door that led to the bathroom and the fierce scrubbing she had been about to give David.

“This is...inappropriate,” she said to no one in particular, still red in the face. “I need help.”

She left David on the bed and went out into the hallway. She picked a random direction and decided to ask the first male she came across for help. Luckily, it didn’t take her long to find one.

“What troubles you ,child?” Romulus asked, looking down on his master after meeting her in the hallway.

“Can you help me with David? He hasn’t gone into spiritual form in days and I wanted to try to clean him up.”

“Say no more. Rome will assist you.” Romulus proceeded towards David’s room and Violet hurried to keep up with his long stride

The two arrived back at the room. David still sat on the bed in his catatonic state in just his pants and shoes.

“He is already partially disrobed?” Romulus asked.

Violet’s face flushed again. “Yes...I need your help with the rest.”

Romulus nodded. He threw one of David’s arms over his shoulder and carried him into the bathroom.

“Rome will take care of it,” he said, closing the door behind him.

“I’ll bring a change of clothes,” she called out.

Violet looked through David’s closet; she knew some of her servants kept casual clothing as a change from their usual attire. When she had found a shirt and pants for David to wear, she knocked on the bathroom door and handed them to Romulus.

She shifted uneasily. What else could she do?

She looked around the room. It was rather untidy. Items were scattered about and many areas were dusty. She regretted not realizing sooner.

She began cleaning. She neatly folded the discarded clothes and set them on a chair, they’d need to be washed if they weren’t dematerialized. She made the bed and organized the scattered items around the room. She went to the janitor’s closet and came back with a broom and dustpan. She had tossed the last panful of dirt when Romulus came out of the bathroom with David in hand.

“He is clean,” Romulus said, sitting David on the bed.

“Thank you, Romulus,” Violet said, leaning the broom against the wall.

Violet saw the water dripping from David’s hair onto his t-shirt.

She went into the bathroom and came back out with a blow dryer and comb. “I’ll take it from here,” she said as she took a towel and began to blot David’s damp hair.

Romulus nodded and left the room.

Violet gently rubbed David’s hair with the towel. When it was dry enough, she turned the blow dryer on low and tenderly ran the comb through his hair, being careful to work through any knots. She did not know where the patience for this came from, she hardly had patience for her own hair, but Violet diligently worked through David’s hair until it was smooth again.

“There,” she finally said. Her arms were tired but the job was done.

Violet, with a soft hand, reached for David’s shoulder. “Take as much time as you need. If it gets that bad again, I’ll come back” She squeezed his shoulder before taking the broom, pan, and sheep and leaving the room.

………………..

_ ‘KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!’ _

“Come in!” Violet called, without looking up from the reports on her desk.

The door slid open and she heard the footsteps of her visitor.

Violet lifted her head. “What’s u-”

Her words died in her throat.

“David?” she asked in disbelief.

“In the flesh,” he said with a smile. “Do you have time to talk?”

Violet got up and took a seat at the table in her room. “Of course,” she said, gesturing to the chair across from her, blinking in surprise.

David to his seat in Violet’s room. This had been the first time he’d been out of his room in months! This was the first time he had spoken to her in months! This was the first time he had  _ smiled _ in months! Yesterday he was so...empty! And listless! And yet here he was, in her room talking to her! Violet was so astonished she had no idea what to do!

“First, I would like to apologize for my insubordination these past few months. Despite what happened, as your servant, I had no right to keep my services from you, especially since it left you bereft of them during two major singularities.”

“I-It’s okay! I understand why you couldn’t go on missions or help around Chaldea.” Violet swallowed and spoke slowly. “You...were hurting. You had lost your son. You were grieving. I don’t hold it against you. There...are few who Romani could have been more important to.”

David studied her with a soft smile on his face before speaking again.

“Second, I would like to thank you. You didn’t need to do all those things for me, bringing me food, bringing me sheep, praying for me, cleaning my room, bathing me almost” he said with a teasing smile.

Violet blushed in embarrassment.

“-drying my hair, especially not yourself. You could have easily gotten someone else to do those things or even, since I’m a heroic spirit, left me alone, but you didn’t. You did those things yourself, with your own time and your own hands.”

David reached across the table and grasped her hand.

Violet stiffened. She looked at their meeting hands before looking back at his face. She waited to see where this was going.

“I sincerely thank you,” he said with a smile after a moment. David removed his hand from hers.

“You’re welcome,” she said, returning his smile.

The two fell into silence. Violet’s smile slowly faded. 

David was studying her, and quite intensely so. 

What mystery was there to be found in her face she wondered?

Finally, David nodded, seeming to have come to his conclusion.

“So!” David leaned casually on the table, head propped up with one hand. “Is there a special guy you’ve got your eye on?”

Violet blinked. “No...Why do you ask?”

“Aw come on! There’s got to be somebody! You’ve been here long enough! None of these strapping men have caught your attention?”

“No.”

“....Are you into girls? Is that why?”

“No…”

“Are you taking up Martha’s offer to become a nun?”

“No! I’m not even from a denomination that does that! Why does everyone think that?!”

“....Were you into Solo- Romani?”

She paused. “.....No.”

“What was that pause?”

“I had to think about it.”

“So you were-”

“No.”

………………..

_ ‘Violet really is a kind girl,’  _ David thought as he listened to Violet’s response to his apology.

He could see why so many servants were fond of her.

To say the least, her generosity had struck a chord with him, enough to take a moment to think of her differently.

Not once had he ever thought of his master romantically. Of course when he first met her he thought she was a kid, but even after he realized that was wrong, it didn’t make him consider her any more than previously.

Violet wasn’t the type he would usually go for. Aside from looking younger than she actually was, she was quite plain looking. I mean, she was reasonably cute when you got to know her but she was no  _ Abishag _ .

Amongst all the beauties within Chaldea, she faded into the background

However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t make someone  _ very happy _ romantically. She was kind and diligent, willing to give a lot for those she cared about. The question was: could it be him?

The answer was no. If he had asked her, she probably would have said the same.

While she certainly had good qualities, she just wasn’t his type. Their personalities and tastes just didn’t match. 

They got along great as friends and master and servant, but as  _ lovers _ ? 

The more David thought about it, the more he could see why it would never work out!

And so that was David’s conclusion as he sat across the table from Violet.

However, there were other ways to repay Violet’s kindness to him. While other servants would reaffirm their commitment to protecting Violet on the battlefield and getting stronger, David wanted to support her in her personal affairs….

...So love life it was!

_ ‘She’s young! What’s youth without a bit of romance? Even a short fling is fine!’  _ David thought to himself as he entered the lounge.

“David!” someone called out as he came into the room.

“You left your room!”

“Great to see you back in the land of the living!”

David smiled. His heart still ached from the loss of his son, but for now, he would enjoy the good friends he had made.”

“Good to be back,” he replied with a wave.

“Baaah”

David looked down, a golden sheep bumped his leg.

“Sorry,” came a feminine voice.

A beautiful girl with long white hair(?), a skimpy red outfit, and a large candy cane in hand came toward him and picked up her sheep.

“They were scattered by a berserker earlier.”

David’s smile widened as he looked at her. “You must be Atilla.”


End file.
